Report: Paterno allegedly told of Sandusky's abuse in 1976

A claim emerged Thursday during an insurance case connected to the Jerry Sandusky child-sex abuse lawsuit that former head coach Joe Paterno was told of the abuse in 1976.

According to the case file obtained by PennLive.com, one of Penn State's insurers claimed a child reported to Paterno in 1976 that Sandusky was sexually molesting him. It doesn't stop there, as the order also references incidents in 1987 and 1988 in which assistant coaches witnessed "inappropriate contact between Sandusky and unidentified children."

"There is no evidence that reports of these incidents ever went further up the chain of command at Penn State," Judge Gary Glazer wrote.

Sandusky was convicted on 45 of 48 counts of sexual abuse in 2012, and sentenced to serve 30 to 60 years in prison. The abuse cases in which he was charged all happened between 1994 and 2009.

Paterno's family responded quickly to the report, maintaining its claim that the now-deceased legendary coach never knew about the abuse.

"An allegation now about an alleged event 40 years ago, as represented by a single line in a court document regarding an insurance issue, with no corroborating evidence does not change the facts," Paterno family attorney Wick Sollers said through a statement. "Joe Paterno did not, at any time, cover up conduct by Jerry Sandusky."

Earlier this week, Sandusky was granted a May 20 hearing, where his lawyers will argue multiple charges against the prosecution's case.